Andy Hunter was at the Johan Cruyff Arena tonight, and his report has landed. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Jurgen Klopp gives BT his verdict. “We had a tough half an hour where Ajax made a lot of pressure and did really well. We needed to defend with a lot of passion. But that is fine, it’s an away game in the Champions League. That’s what can happen. You have to get through these phases. Then we scored a goal that was exceptional, and after that a situation which probably explains Bobby Firmino in a nutshell! He passed that ball and I think Darwin was surprised as well! But it was a great situation. Two-nil would have been great, but we had a good start to the second half, two wonderful goals, and controlled the game from then on. Darwin had a really good game in both directions, played with a big heart, and hopefully we took him off early enough!”
Andy Robertson, talking to BT Sport: “Darwin was in at half-time really angry at himself, disappointed with himself at not taking that chance. I sat next to him in the changing room, I don’t know if he understood a word I said, but I said I’ll put a cross on your head and you’ll score no problem. So maybe we need to say that more often!”
There’s no getting away from it. Had Steven Berghuis or Dušan Tadić scored one or both of their gilt-edged first-half chances, this would have been a very different match. But they didn’t, Liverpool dug in, messed with Ajax’s early rhythm, snaffled a fine first-half goal against the run of play, then hit the hosts with a sensational quickfire one-two at the start of the second half. In the end, it was comfortable for Jurgen Klopp’s side, an ultimately deserved victory, and they make it through to the last 16. Napoli meanwhile have beaten Rangers 3-0 … so if Liverpool want to win Group A, they’ll need to beat the Italians by the same scoreline at Anfield next Tuesday. No biggie! But at the start of the day, they’d have taken qualification, and that’s what they’ve got. A great night for Liverpool, albeit one that was pretty much their unpredictable season in microcosm.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napoli | 5 | 16 | 15 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 3 | Ajax | 5 | -7 | 3 |
| 4 | Rangers | 5 | -18 | 0 |
FULL TIME: Ajax 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League!
90 min +2: The remaining Ajax faithful give it one defiant last yell. There’s nothing else to do.
90 min +1: Jones crosses from the right, looking for Firmino at the far stick. Just a corner. Van Dijk comes forward, looking for a goal on home turf. He doesn’t get one, Pasveer punching spectacularly clear.
90 min: Tsimikas dribbles down the inside-left channel and makes it into the box. He lays off for Firmino, who tries to tee up Carvalho, but it’s all too intricate. Ajax clear. There will be three added minutes.
88 min: Carvalho chases after a long Milner pass. Pasveer reads the danger and comes racing out of his box to blooter clear.
87 min: Robertson makes way for Tsimikas.
86 min: Two more Ajax changes. Berghuis and Alvarez are replaced by Conceição and Grillitsch.
85 min: Timber turns on the jets, making off down the inside-left channel, beating a couple of men, cutting infield, and dragging a shot wide left. Poor finish to a sensational dribble.
83 min: Ajax fans are streaming out of the stadium. They’ve had enough. Those Berghuis and Tadic misses seem an awfully long time ago now.
81 min: A third goal for Napoli against Rangers. Leo Østigård heads home with nine minutes to go.
79 min: Now Timber cynically checks Milner, who wants a free kick but isn’t getting one. Ajax – perhaps understandably given the way this topsy-turvy match has developed – may be working through some issues of frustration.
77 min: Wijndal doesn’t make too much effort to stop his shoulder moving the way of Salah’s face. Neither referee nor VAR shows any interest, though that didn’t look wholly innocent.
75 min: Bajcetic tries to steer a low curler into the bottom right from the best part of 30 yards. Ah the unshakable confidence of youth.
74 min: Ajax ping it around patiently. Eventually Berghuis has a belt from the edge of the Liverpool D. The ball just about stays inside the StadiuM.
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73 min: The atmosphere at the Johan Cruyff ArenA is fairly subdued, as you’d imagine. The away fans are having a whale of a time, though.
71 min: A triple change for Liverpool. Henderson can’t continue, and he goes off along with Fabinho and Elliott. On come Milner, Carvalho and the promising 18-year-old defensive midfielder Bajcetic.
69 min: Henderson is down having accidentally clacked knees with Alvarez.
68 min: A bit of space for Sanchez down the right. He cuts back for Taylor, who leans back and balloons over from 12 yards. Decent chance. Just for the record, Ajax currently need five goals if they’re to remain alive in Group A.
66 min: Jones sends Firmino scampering down the left. A quick pass infield would release Salah, but it’s not spotted in time. Firmino waits for Salah to get back onside, then rolls across. Salah hoicks over from the edge of the box.
64 min: Bergwijn drops a shoulder to make it past Alexander-Arnold on the left, then curls a decent effort towards the top right. Just wide, just high. Alisson probably had it covered, but you wouldn’t bet the farm.
63 min: Both teams make a change. Nunez makes way for Jones, while striker Brobbey is sacrificed for the more defensive Taylor, an unpopular decision with the home fans.
61 min: Berghuis crosses deep from the right. Alexander-Arnold doesn’t realise Wijndal is behind him. Wijndal heads across the face of goal, but Gomez reads the danger, trapping and clearing. “The rub of the green for Liverpool.” Nora Mulcahy proving that Peter Oh doesn’t have an exclusivity clause regarding MBM puns.
59 min: A double change for Ajax. Two Too little too late. Kudus and Wijndal come on for Klaasen and Blind.
57 min: Robertson crosses from the left. Bassey looks to hook clear, but succeeds only in kicking the ball up onto his elbow and out for a corner. No penalty, and nothing comes of the resulting set piece, Van Dijk heading harmlessly over.
56 min: Alexander-Arnold threads a diagonal pass infield from the right to nearly release Salah. Not quite, but there’s a sense that Alexander-Arnold is rediscovering some of his old confidence, his old sass. Good news for Liverpool if so.
54 min: Ajax are suddenly all over the show. Elliott has runners either side, with the hosts extremely light at the back, but can’t make the killer pass because the ball rears up and hits Bergwijn on the arm. Accidental hand ball, so no booking, but at least it stopped what looked like a third goal in five minutes.
GOAL! Ajax 0-3 Liverpool (Elliott 52)
Alexander-Arnold slips a ball infield from the right. Salah shuttles it down the channel. Elliott strides into the box and lashes a rising shot into the top right! Pasveer beaten at his near post, and yet he had little chance of stopping that!
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51 min: That’s really put Ajax up against it. They have to beat Liverpool by two goals now if they’re to have a chance of pipping them on the head-to head on matchday si… hold on …
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GOAL! Ajax 0-2 Liverpool (Nunez 49)
Robertson whips an outswinger into the box. Nunez forces his way past Timber and powers a header across Pasveer and into the right-hand side of the net. Unstoppable! As good a header as his first-half miss was egregious. One way or another, this guy is entertaining all right!
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49 min: Nunez makes his way down the left and hits a cross-cum-shot that nearly sneaks in at the near post. Pasveer turns the ball around the post for a corner, from which …
48 min: Bassey hurt himself making that clearance, and need a moment to recover. Pasveer checks his team-mate over and the big defender is back up and running again.
47 min: Alexander-Arnold whips in a dangerous cross from the right. Nunez stoops, hoping to power a header goalwards at the near post, but Bassey gets in the road to clear. Fine defence.
Ajax get the second half started. No changes.
In the other Group A game, Napoli unsurprisingly lead Rangers 2-0 at half-time. Giovanni Simeone with a quick one-two in the 11th and 16th minutes. As things stand, this is how the table looks.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napoli | 5 | 15 | 15 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 3 | Ajax | 5 | -5 | 3 |
| 4 | Rangers | 5 | -17 | 0 |
Beauty is truth, truth beauty. Just in case you missed David Squires’ latest work of art. This is almost unbearably poignant.
HALF TIME: Ajax 0-1 Liverpool
Steven Berghuis, Dušan Tadić and Darwin Núñez should have scored; Mohamed Salah did. Ajax have been the better team, but it’s Liverpool who lead, and who have one foot in the knockout stage.
45 min: There will be one minute added to the end of a very strange half of football.
44 min: Liverpool should be two up! Roberson bombs down the left and drifts infield. He rolls towards Firmino, free in the box on the right. Firmino is within his rights to shoot himself, but rolls across to tee up Nunez for a tap-in. Nunez, six yards out, batters the ball off the base of the left-hand post! Firmino looks around holding both palms to the sky. What just happened?! In terms of sitters missed, it’s now Ajax 2-1 Liverpool.
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43 min: That’s six goals in five matches for Salah, who has hit form just in time for his otherwise struggling side.
GOAL! Ajax 0-1 Liverpool (Salah 42)
Well this has come against the overall run of play! Henderson spins into space down the left. He curls infield beautifully with the outside of his boot for Salah, on the edge of the box. Salah would still have a lot to do, but Pasveer rashly rushes out towards him, and a quick flick with the instep wedges the ball over the outrushing keeper and into the unguarded net. Delightful goal!
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41 min: Elliott sends an outswinging shot towards the bottom right. It was probably going wide, but Pasveer gets down to smother and hold. Though only just. For a second, it looked as though he might spill at the feet of Salah. But he keeps control of the ball.
40 min: Gomez wedges a pass down the middle for – of all people – Alexander-Arnold. Had it been weighted properly, Alexander-Arnold was clean through a huge gap in the Ajax defence. But the ball sails through to Pasveer.
38 min: Somewhere in a parallel universe, Ajax are 2-0 up. They really should be two goals up in this one, too. Berghuis and Tadic have missed huge chances.
36 min: Brobbey romps down the right and crosses low into the Liverpool box. It’s three against one! The ball evades Bergwijn and Klassen but finds Tadic. He’s only got Alisson to beat … until Alexander-Arnold arrives from nowhere and blocks the shot with his backside! That really should have been a goal. Credit where it’s due: great last-ditch defence by Alexander-Arnold!
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34 min: Robertson crosses from the left. Blind misses it. Alexander-Arnold swings a leg at the dropping ball. He connects, but not particularly well. Ajax clear. That might technically be Liverpool’s first shot on target, for what that’s worth. Then Liverpool come again through Robertson down the left. He lashes into the side netting from a tight angle.
32 min: Alexander-Arnold nutmegs Klassen in the centre circle. Another small victory.
30 min: Gomez fouls Brobbey out on the left flank. Just a free kick, but with Firmino having recently checked Bergwijn, Liverpool are testing both the crowd and the referee’s patience with a series of minor infringements. Next one could result in a booking.
28 min: Van Dijk strides upfield with a view to making something happen, but nobody’s moving for him and eventually he’s forced to turn tail. This has been pretty poor by Liverpool so far, but as things stand, they’re going through.
26 min: The pace of the game drops a bit, which takes a little of the pressure off Liverpool, and frustrates the crowd as well. The little victories.
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24 min: Alexander-Arnold sprays a right-to-left pass towards his opposite number Robertson. An easy ball to gather, under no pressure, but Robertson takes his eye off it, and lets it roll off his foot and out for a throw. He knocks the ball away in frustration and earns himself a warning from the referee.
23 min: Alexander-Arnold crosses from the right. Sanchez heads clear under pressure from Nunez. It’s not much, but it’s better from the visitors.
21 min: Nunez chases after a long pump down the middle. Pasveer comes to the edge of his box to claim, then gets accidentally cleaned out by his own man Sanchez. They’re both up and about immediately. That’s about as creative as Liverpool have been so far.
19 min: Liverpool are suddenly struggling to string passes together. Klopp comes to the edge of the pitch to deliver some beneficial advice in the full and frank style.
17 min: They certainly are! Bergwijn has a dig from distance, and his 25-yard swerver flies inches wide of the top left. Alisson makes out he had it covered, but I’m not so sure. Then the hosts come again, Sanchez taking a whack from the best part of 30. That’s straight at Alisson, who is playing his 200th game for Liverpool tonight, and may be in for one of his busier ones.
15 min: Some space for Sanchez down the right. He fires in low, hoping to find Tadic in the middle. Alisson drops to smother. Ajax are coming back into this again.
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14 min: Henderson carelessly handballs out on the Ajax right flank, assuming the ball had gone out of play. Berghuis whips the resulting free kick into the mixer, and Henderson makes up for his mistake by hoicking clear.
12 min: Liverpool stroke it about the back patiently. Smart play, taking what’s left of the early sting out of the game, and quietening the crowd to boot.
10 min: Salah cuts in from the right and exchanges passes with Elliott. Salah crosses low. Too weak, and easily cleared, but maybe Liverpool are beginning to settle a bit.
9 min: Salah drops deep and turns cutely in the centre circle, before nearly releasing Nunez with a threaded pass down the middle. Not quite, but that’s a little bit better from the visitors, who have otherwise looked pretty nervous.
7 min: It’s all Ajax in these early exchanges. Liverpool are struggling to retain possession. It’s all a bit jittery by Klopp’s men … and when an opportunity to break presents itself, Henderson takes a heavy touch while attempting to stride into space and clanks into his own man Firmino.
5 min: That close shave will certainly have given Liverpool a shock. A reminder that if Ajax win 1-0 tonight, then beat Rangers in their final game, Liverpool would need to avoid defeat against Napoli at Anfield to squeak through. You wouldn’t put too much cash money on that, given Liverpool’s unpredictability this season.
3 min: … suddenly Ajax spring into life! The ball’s rolled into the Liverpool box from the left. Brobbey cushions the ball into the path of Berghuis, who takes a touch to the right of the penalty spot to send Robertson off to the shops. He’s got to score, one on one with Alisson, but crashes his low shot off the base of the right-hand post and away. What a let-off for Liverpool!
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2 min: Very little happens in the early stages. Robertson winds the crowd up by taking an age over a throw-in. But then …
Liverpool get the ball rolling. No surprise that there’s a wild atmosphere in the Johan Cruyff ArenA. “I heard that a long time ago Peter Oh sent in ten different entries to The Guardian’s Pun of the Week competition, hoping one of them was good enough to win. Alas, no pun in ten did.” Justin Kavanagh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the edibles.
The teams are out! Ajax wear their famous white shirt with thick red stripe – or red shirt with two thin white ones, depending on how you see it – while Liverpool sport that aforementioned green. This being the Netherlands, and Virgil van Dijk being Dutch, there were plenty of friendly embraces in the tunnel beforehand. Anyway, we’ll be off once Zadok the Priest’s younger brother continues to sully the family name with the cover version he recorded for Uefa’s marketing department.
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More pre-match entertainment. “I was looking today at footage of the 1966 European Cup tie between Ajax and Liverpool,” begins Kári Tulinius. “The 5-1 shellacking by the Dutch side is the more famous result, but in some ways I found the second match even more interesting, placed as it is at the cusp of a sea change in football. Even in highlights you can really see how both teams, in their own way, are figuring out how the game will be played for the next half century or so.”
If you’re interested in finding out a wee bit more about that tie, and how it did indeed shape the future, there’s a whole chapter on it in this book. Just sayin’.
Jürgen Klopp, cheerful and relaxed, speaks to BT Sport. “I don’t understand how you can go for a point. You can get a point in the end, but it’s only by trying to win. That’s what we’ll try. We know the situation, we know the opponent has to win, and that obviously gives us an idea about what they will try to do. It’s in their DNA anyway, it’s an attacking team, an attacking club, it was always, so we have to be prepared for that. But it creates space for us as well, and we have to use that. Hopefully we can do it. We are actually in a good mood! It’s a great game, a great stadium, there will be an outstanding atmosphere and we have to make sure we play our part.”
Liverpool will be giving their new third kit its first run-out tonight. They’ve not had much luck in that swirling psychedelic second kit, with their only win away from home so far this season coming at Ibrox, where they were allowed to wear red. So they might as well give this a go. Mind you, how much luck green brings them is a moot point, evoking as it does the eras of Dean Saunders, Titi Camara (loveable though he was) and Craig Bellamy, never mind the 1996 FA Cup final. So let’s see how this one pans out for them.
Pre-match entertainment. “Devyne Rensch is a great name, evocative of a magical tool in the hands of a superhero,” quips the perpetually punning Peter Oh. “It also reminds me of this indie hit.”
Pre-match reading. A quick rummage around the Guardian vault, and look what we have here! Enjoy, enjoy (x2).
Liverpool make three changes to the team sent out for the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest. Darwin Núñez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Jordan Henderson take the places of Fabio Carvalho, James Milner and Curtis Jones, all of whom drop to the bench.
Meanwhile there are three differences to the starting XI selected by Ajax for September’s 2-1 defeat at Anfield, a game Joel Matip settled in the penultimate minute. Davy Klaassen, Brian Brobbey and Jorge Sanchez are in; Kenneth Taylor, Devyne Rensch and Mohammed Kudus start on the bench.
The teams
Ajax: Pasveer, Sanchez, Timber, Blind, Bassey, Klaassen, Alvarez, Berghuis, Bergwijn, Brobbey, Tadic.
Subs: Stekelenburg, Wijndal, Taylor, Ocampos, Rensch, Gorter, Lucca, Kudus, Grillitsch, Magallan, Francisco Conceicao.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Elliott, Salah, Firmino, Nunez.
Subs: Konate, Milner, Adrian, Jones, Tsimikas, Ramsay, Carvalho, Bajcetic, Phillips, Kelleher.
Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain).
Preamble
A fortnight ago, Liverpool did this …
… which means that if they get a point in Amsterdam tonight, they’ll make it through to the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League. A loss might even be OK, providing it’s not by more than one goal. Ajax would then still technically still be able to qualify if Liverpool lose 2-1 tonight, but they’d need a big swing in goal difference on matchday six to pip the Reds. If Liverpool lose by two goals, then Ajax will have the better head-to-head record before going to Rangers, while Liverpool host Napoli. TLDR: easiest and best for Liverpool not to lose. Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napoli | 4 | 13 | 12 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 3 | Ajax | 4 | -4 | 3 |
| 4 | Rangers | 4 | -15 | 0 |
